Frank, M. (Ed.). (1983). Newcomers to the United States: Children and families. (Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, Vol. 15, No. 3). New York: Haworth, 89 pp., $22.95
✍ Scribed by William E. Roweton
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 59 KB
- Volume
- 27
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0033-3085
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Frank's volume is a stimulating collection of essays about the effects of immigration on children and families. They are effective, nontechnical, issue-oriented statements. Problems addressed include cultural adaptation, work, family stability, social service needs of immigrant children, bilingual education, self-concepts, and rapid role changes. This book warrants our sensitive attention.
Illegal aliens from Mexico alone, some judge, enter at the rate of one a minute. Shanker (1984) estimated that the US now harbors between 10 and 15 million illegal entrants. To this, of course, can be added legal aliens and refugees. The current US legal annual limit is 450,000, more than the rest of the world's limits combined. This is not the minor league.
The anthology's authors are keen to the psychosocial ramifications of familial upheaval and economic uncertainties. It is fertile turf for child and family psychologists. But seeing simply the product's scholastic acuity misses, I feel, the book's impact.
Above all, it is a nondogmatic wrestling match with a pressing social entanglement. Ryan writes:
. . . we must not ignore the fact that millions of homeless children populate Third World cities. . . .Over half of one billion children in the world today lack the basic necessities, most particularly food. America's wealth . . . could be of incalculable worth to the future of those children. (p. 59)
The book encourages a catholic and informed assessment: It is not simply a "problem" just for psychologists or just for America. Indeed, we all share responsiblity. Such social policy is not shortsighted nor impulsive nor politically expedient. And the human effects of poorly planned immigration policy are not a light burden for any of us, regardless of our psychological sophistication.